Fantasy College Wrestling - 2023 Season Top-20 (184 lbs)

We are just about at the turning point where last season’s results and memories start to fade into the WrestleStat archives and the general wrestling community ramps up the interest and speculation of the upcoming season. And when it comes to Fantasy College Wrestling, drafters need to start thinking about who they want to pick in their 2024 draft.

One way to do this is to look at the results of the 2023 season. The 2023 FCW Top-20 at each weight can give you a good idea of who the top Fantasy wrestlers in the country are. Seeing who returns, who leaves, who outplaced who, what teams made these lists more than others… all important information and data to digest.

Of course, things can change quickly in college wrestling. Wrestlers can transfer, injuries can happen, and new stars can emerge. But the 2023 FCW Top-20 is a good starting point for your fantasy draft preparation, as you will see some (many, actually) repeat names from the 2022 Top-20 articles and even 2021 Top-20 articles.

Take for instance: Pat Glory (PRIN), Yianni Diakomihalis (COR), Keegan O’Toole (MIZZ), and Carter Starocci (PSU). That championship group scored 223 Fpts in the 2023 season. How about these names though: Caleb Smith (APP), McKenzie Bell (RID), Evan Barczak (DREX), and Tyler Stoltzfus (LHU). That group scored 313 Fpts, and none were All-Americans.

As you look at the list, keep in mind that not all of the top performers are household names. Some of the wrestlers who scored the most points in 2023 were not All-Americans. This is just one of the things that makes fantasy sports so exciting and unpredictable.

So start your draft preparation today by taking a look at the 2023 FCW Top-20. You might just find some hidden gems that can help you win your league in 2024.

To compile these lists, we used standard WrestleStat Fantasy College Wrestling Data & Scoring. Just a reminder of how points were tallied in WrestleStat leagues:

1) The scoring used was Standard Team Scoring across all competitions (+3 for a win by decision, -4 for a loss by Major, etc)

2) Scoring only counted against D1 competition

3) Wins via Forfeits (FFT) would count as +6 towards a wrestler's point total

4) Wins or Losses by Medical Forfeit (MFF) did not count as + or - towards a wrestler's point total

5) Points were only accumulated during the regular season

Notes:

Starting with his redshirt year in 2018 through 2021, Will Feldkamp had a record of 21-16 against D1 competition. Then, in 2022 at 197, he finished #10 with a 17-3 regular season record. In 2023, he is your Top Fantasy Wrestler at 184 thanks to 10 pins and one tech. What's more impressive, he had three losses against D1 competition and two of them were by bonus (one loss by pin and one by major). 

Trey Munoz tied for first place last season and followed it up with another stellar Fantasy showing in 2023. The same goes for Parker Keckeisen (who was also 3rd in 2022) and Trent Hidlay (who also was 4th in 2022). Both Keckeisen and Hidlay finished with just about the same number of Fpts in 2022 as well (74 and 69, respectively). Now that’s consistency. 

Tying for first at 184 in 2022 was Hunter Bolen, who finds himself at #13 in this Top-20. A combination of factors are to blame: In 2023 he had two fewer matches wrestled, four fewer matches won by pin, and a loss by pin. That’s potentially at least 21 Fpts, which would have slotted him at #4 in this Top-20.

Graduate Transfer Neil Antrassian made his way down to UVA and with the help of his best statistical season of his career to take the #8 spot, and was sandwiched between two non-starters. Dennis Robin used the most out of his 32 D1 matches to edge Antrassian by two points, despite NINE losses which accounted for -30 Fpts. Had he won two of those matches, he would have been 3rd and tied Trey Munoz with 74 Fpts. One of those losses was to the other non-starter in the Top-10, Sam Fisher. Fisher participated in five tournaments and even started three duals, which was just enough to place higher than Marcus Coleman and Matt Finesilver.

True Freshman Brian Soldano went (Taylor) Ham to start the season, going 15-3 (one win and one loss to non-D1 competitors). In that first half, he had six pins and one tech, but the reason he didn't finish better than 12th was due to the unforgiving dual season that is the Big Ten. He went 5-4 with two majors and a pin, but he also had losses by pin, maj, and tech for a net +2. Hard to jump up the ranks when you tread water.

Lenny Pinto made his collegiate debut (after not wrestling in his Redshirt Freshman season), and a bonus-laden season it was, with a full season bonus rate of 55%... but also had his shares of losses by bonus too. With three losses by pin and one by major, which he was able to mitigate at the end of the regular season with two pins and an FFT win.

Making his first-ever Fantasy Top-20, Abe Assad could have jumped to #13 if he hadn't lost by pin to Tyler Dow. A loss by Decision (or a win by Decision) would have vaulted him to #13 over Hunter Bolen.

Who Missed The Cut:

As I alluded to a few articles ago, there was one National Champ that didn't make a Top-20 at their weight. Well, the champ is here. Aaron Brooks (PSU) comes in at #25 with 39 Fpts in 10 matches wrestled in the regular season. In fact, out of any starter or the highest fantasy-ranked Penn State wrestler at each weight, he had the lowest match total. His loss to Marcus Coleman (#10 on the Top-20 at 184), did not change his fate as he would have only had 45 Fpts with a win by Decision.

Redshirt Freshman Clayton Whiting (MIZZ) finished two points shy of making the Top-20 with Binghamton’s Jacob Nolan one point behind him.

In his last year of eligibility, Brian Bonino (DREX) traveled south on I-95 to the City of Brotherly Love changing from a Lion to a Dragon. Before the 2023 season, he had not qualified for Nationals, and since being a starter was 22-27 against D1 competition (including postseason). 2023 was different though, as he went 24-10 and qualified for his first NCAA Tournament. Despite this jump, he wasn't able to crack the Top-20, and finished at #29 with 38 Fpts.

Travis Wittlake (OKST) took a joint up a couple weights, and really the only thing that was out of the ordinary was his bonus rate. His regular season bonus rate was his lowest in his career (20%) while his full season bonus down to 14.8%, also a personal low. The main reason why he finished #24 with 40 Fpts.

Other notables to miss the cut include Tate Samuelson (LEH) at #28 with 38 Fpts, Caleb Hopkins (CAMP) at #31 with 34 Fpts, John Poznanski (RUT) at #48 with 19 Fpts, and Jonathan Loew (COR) at #69 with 7 Fpts due in large part to his early season injury.

Don't see your favorite wrestler on the list? Let me know @FantasyD1Wrestl for the full stats.

Previous 2023 Top-20 Articles:

Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 125

Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 133

Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 141

Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 149

Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 157

Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 165

Top-20 Fantasy Wrestlers at 174